The Ambassador Bridge is the only link between Windsor and Detroit that can accommodate truck traffic. The Detroit Windsor Tunnel cannot handle trucks.File Photo | The Associated Press

LANSING, MI - MLive's week-long look into a proposed constitutional amendment involving new border bridges and tunnels concluded Friday with a live chat/debate on Proposal 6.

You can replay the conversation below with state Rep. Dave Agema, R-Grandville, and Andy Johnston, vice president of government affairs for the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce.

The ballot proposal is an effort by Ambassador Bridge owners to slow down or stop construction of a second Detroit-Windsor bridge called for in an agreement between Michigan and Canada. It would require a statewide and local vote before the state spends any money or resources "for acquiring land, designing, soliciting bids for, constructing, financing, or promoting new international bridges or tunnels."

The Grand Rapids Chamber is among a number of business groups to oppose Proposal 6 and support the New International Trade Crossing. In a document outlining its positions on all six ballot issues, the chamber says the bridge proposal "is nothing more than an attempt by the Ambassador Bridge Company to protect their monopoly" and warns it may threaten the ability to build local bridges and tunnels.

Agema, chairman of the House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, wrote an op-ed for MLive calling for taxpayers to take matters into their own hands.

"Thus far, the Legislature has not supported construction of the NITC because there is no conclusive evidence that the crossing is necessary, nor economically feasible with tolls alone," he said.

MLive statewide news editor Meegan Holland hosted the live chat, which was moderated by statewide community engagement director Jen Eyer. Questions from readers and MLive staff were included.